In a troubling sign, HTC Corp. (TPE:2498) has officially killed updates support for One S Android smartphone, long before its second birthday even arrived. The mid-range smartphone had first aired back in Feb. 2012, going on sale at the start of April 2012. Just 15 months in, and owners already find themselves no longer receiving critical security and usability updates.

We can confirm that the HTC One S will not receive further Android OS updates and will remain on the current version of Android and HTC Sense. We realize this news will be met with disappointment by some, but our customers should feel confident that we have designed the HTC One S to be optimized with our amazing camera and audio experiences.

The year old device will now be stuck on Android v4.1.1 Jelly Bean. Android v4.2 Jelly Bean v2 came out in Nov. 2012 -- just a little over half a year after the One S went on sale. But it appears HTC will never work with carriers to officially push this update to customers.

The problem of slow-to-nonexistent updates has been a much discussed issue with Android and has even sparked lawsuits. But companies seem intent on continuing to abandon support for Android devices midway through their lifespan leaving customers to fend for themselves or be "confident" in settling for aging interfaces.

It is unclear whether the HTC One X and One V, which launched alongside the One S, will share in this updateless purgatory. What is clear is that the only HTC handset to have the promise of life-long updates (until the hardware can no longer support it) is the HTC One Google Play edition, which ships direct from Google Inc. (GOOG) unlocked.

It's not as complex as all that... It's really quite simple. If you want "official" manufacturer updates (without updaing it yourself with a custom ROM) dont buy mid range or low end phones. If you buy a flagship phone from anyone, you generally get updates. If getting OS updates years later are important to you, buy an iPhone... But, then your stuck with an iPhone ;)

That was the argument others said to me as well. I intend having my phone for 3-5 years. A smartphone costs NZ$1,000 outright in NZ, so it is not something I want to change every year or so. My plan costs me NZ$39 per month and I would have to increase that to $59 per month to get a mere $200 off the price. As for flagship phones it took Samsung 5 months to make 4.1.2 available for the Galaxy S2 and no word on whether it will ever support 4.2.x. That is a long time to be vulnerable to exploits.